Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 122219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
A flood of embarrassment enveloped me as I stayed plastered to the toilet seat. I knew I wanted Avery to take notice of me more, but not like that. Not as my insides tried their damnedest to exit stage right. This was not how I wanted her to see me—broken down and vulnerable.
“Hey,” she whispered.
I tried my best to muster the energy to respond, but words seemed too much of a struggle to release. My mind spun as my fever grew, moistness soaking every inch of me. The only thing that I could release from my lips was a grunt.
Avery bent down beside me and placed the back of her hand to my forehead. “You’re burning up,” she said before grabbing another towel from my closet. She ran it under cold water for a moment before she wrung it out and placed it against my forehead. I leaned back against the sink cabinet, exhausted. My knees bent, and I rested my arms against my kneecaps as I closed my eyes.
The coolness of the cloth made it a little easier to breathe. Avery patted it gently all over my face and neck. She smoothed it slightly over my exposed chest. My breaths were uneven as I kept my eyes closed. Every time I tried to open them, the room began to spin all around me, so shut eyes were better.
“I’m okay,” I muttered, hating that she saw me in the shape I’d been in.
“No. You’re not,” she replied as she gently placed her hand against my forehead again. The tenderness of her touch was a bit of a surprise to me. For the past few weeks, Avery had been very standoffish toward me. At that moment, it was as if her walls were coming down.
I leaned into her touch as her warmth seeped into me. “You should not be this close to me. I don’t want you to get sick. Plus, you should get to work and—”
“Nathan.” She locked her eyes with mine, and her lips turned up slightly. “Let me take care of you.”
I didn’t know how much I wanted and needed to hear those words that morning. I wasn’t used to people taking care of me. I was normally the one dishing out the care. A part of me wanted to argue with her offer, but a bigger part of me wanted to curl into a ball and have her hold me and tell me I would be all right.
Easton might’ve been onto something.
“Let’s get you back to your bed,” she said. She wrapped an arm around my body and lifted me as if I were as light as a feather. Clearly, Avery had taken advantage of the weight lifting facility at the high school.
She led me to my bed and pulled back my comforter. I sat on the edge of the bed, still shivering from chills, as she lifted my legs up into the bed. She covered me up, tucking me in, and then told me she’d be right back.
When she returned, she had a tray filled with goodies. Electrolytes, crackers, and an array of medicine. She set the tray on my nightstand and began collecting pills for me to take. “Now, I know you’re probably not hungry at all, but you need to eat a few crackers in order to take the medicine,” she ordered.
I grumbled and slightly pushed her approaching hand away.
She arched an eyebrow. “Nathaniel Grayson Pierce, open your mouth right now.”
I shook my head.
She arched her other brow. “Now,” she ordered.
I parted my lips slightly.
She shook her head. “No. More. Like this.” She unlocked her jaw and opened wide. “Aah!”
If I were feeling more alive, I would’ve probably made an inappropriate joke about stuffing her mouth with something tasty. Instead, I groaned like a sad puppy as I opened my jaw.
She placed the pills in my mouth and then fed me a sip of water. “Good job,” she whispered, wiping her finger right below my lip where a drip of water was falling. “Now, eat one cracker.”
“I can’t, Coach,” I muttered, shutting my eyes once more.
“Now,” she ordered once more.
Something about her orders made me obey right away. I didn’t know if it was her tone or the act of control that she had over me, but I opened my mouth once more and allowed her to feed me a few crackers.
“Good boy. I’m proud of you,” she said as she gently rubbed her hand over my head. It turned out I didn’t only have a shame kink but a praise one, too. “Now, rest,” she told me. “I’ll be back in a few to check on you.”
“Don’t you have to get to work?” I asked.
“I called in earlier when I heard you were sick. I notified the guys we wouldn’t have practice tonight, either.”